The Brethren (20 page)
Authors: Beverly Lewis
242 I
his
secret from Daed yesterday. Still, she worried he might have guessed somehow.
Essie sat down to catch her breath, looking around the kitchen. “Everything is so clean,” she said, smiling at Annie. “You must’ve had some help, jah?”
“Oh, just a little,” Annie confessed, assuming Esther suspected Ben must have volunteered to assist with outside chores, freeing Annie up to work indoors.
Essie nodded her head. “And did Laura do her share?” she asked in Laura’s hearing.
“You can be sure of that. Ain’t so, Laura?” The girl’s eyes shone with delight, and she ran to her mother yet again, throwing her arms around her waist. “I helped all I could, Mamma. But Auntie Annie did most of it and cookin’ and taking good care of us.”
Essie’s grateful expression warmed Annie’s heart. “I was glad to do what I could.”
“Well, I need to be holdin’ my wee babe,” said Essie,
taking Laura’s hand and getting up. “She must be napping?”
Annie said she was upstairs in her crib, and Essie headed
through the sitting room to the stairs as Laura said, “You
missed Essie Ann a lot, didn’t ya, Mamma?”
Their happy voices faded and Annie heard only their feet on the stairs.
Eager to check the mail, Annie went outdoors, hoping for a letter from Lou. But there was nothing from Colorado. Even so there was a fat envelope that no doubt contained several “circle letters” short journal-like correspondence where several ladies wrote about their activities and sent them around to one another from Essie’s five cousins in
243 Wisconsin. Esther often shared these letters with Annie and Laura, reading them aloud, laughing as she did.
You heard my prayer for Essie, dear Lord, Annie said, thankfulness welling up in her. She walked back toward the house, where Zach and John had wandered into the back’ yard and were throwing a stick to Zeke’s big black dog. Annie sat on the stoop to watch them and sighed inwardly. Not till this moment had she realized how much responsibility for Essie’s children and for keeping the house running smoothly in her absence she had carried while Essie was gone. Help me always to think first of others, she prayed.
But she knew she would think of herself in one way. The tremendous joy she felt with Ben the thrill that he was pursuing her again was becoming habit-forming. And lest she wither on the vine again, as she had after his leaving, she determined to get a driver to take her over to the Englischers’ outlet stores. Some new, fancy clothing should be just the thing. Without saying a word, Annie would let Ben know her eagerness to join his world.
After meeting Moses’ wife, a handful of greatgrandchildren, and an elderly grandmother, Ben wanted to rush off to Esther’s and tell Annie the good news. I am Isaac! To think Moses had remembered the scar.
Equally amazing, Annie had somehow known all along.
When his cell phone rang, he hoped it was Annie calling him from Julia’s maybe. He was surprised instead to hear Julia herself, letting him know Esther was on her way home from the hospital. Thanking Julia for the update, he disconnected.
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He wished he could phone Annie, but since there was no way to contact her at Esther’s, he knew he must put off seeing her for a while. Annie and the children were most likely welcoming Esther home right now, and he didn’t want to just show up, possibly intruding on her homecoming.
So he decided to call Sam Glick instead, grateful he’d keyed in Sam’s new cell phone number when he last saw him at the harness shop.
Hungry now, he first headed for Route 30, looking for the nearest fast-food stop. Then, while enjoying a juicy cheeseburger, he called Sam and they exchanged small talk.
“More than ever, I’m interested in the Plain life,” he told Sam.
“Is it the People or is it something else?” Sam asked, a teasing lilt to his voice.
Ben laughed. “You mean someone else?”
“Annie seems to like you well enough.”
He wasn’t inclined to discuss his affection for Annie by cell with a casual acquaintance former Amishman or not. He changed the subject. “You’ll never guess what I just found out.”
“You like the smell of pig manure after all?”
Ben chuckled. “I found out that I am Zeke’s younger
brother.” Ben quickly filled Sam in on the telltale scar identity
tified
by Preacher Moses.
“No fooling? You’re the kid who disappeared all those years ago?”
“That’s what I’m told.”
They talked a while longer about the kidnapping, Ben’s
245 memories, and the events leading up to his meeting with Moses today.
Then, after a time, Sam brought up Louisa. Ben was surprised, once again, at their similar situations, only reversed. Sam invited him over for supper, and Ben said he’d be all for it. Sharing a meal with Sam would be a distant second to taking Annie out, of course, but he also wanted to be sensitive to her needs and not rush things as he had before. Anyway, spending time with Sam might be a good idea for a while, a way to discover all he’d missed here while growing up in Kentucky. His past was calling him home.
Annie wasted no time getting started on her chores the morning after Essie returned home. She was outside in the pigpen slopping the hogs when Ben sneaked up on her.
“Oh, Ben, you scared me!”
He leaned against the fence and smiled at her. “Hello to you, too, Miss Annie. Don’t you smell good this morning.”
She’d nearly become used to the hog smell, which was no doubt strong on her choring dress. She wrinkled her nose at him but couldn’t help grinning at his teasing.
“You’re out of breath, Ben. Where’d you come from?”
“I knew I’d find you out here this time of day, so I parked the car up the road and ran down. I didn’t want to upset Essie again.”
“That’s awful kind, Ben.”
“Have you heard?”
“Heard what?”
He was clearly excited. “Oh, it’s the best news, Annie.”
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don’t his
Speaking quickly, he told her how Preacher Moses had identified him by the scar on his foot, “Now I’m sure, Annie. I am Isaac.”
She wanted to go to him, let him wrap his arms around her, but she resisted, only smiling her best smile. “Ach, I’m ever so glad,” she whispered, refusing her tears.
Ben looked over his shoulder at the house. “I’d better go. But I’ll see you again soon.”
“Jah,” she called after him as she watched him hurry around the barn and out of sight. “But not soon enough,” she whispered.
Finishing her chores, she headed inside and helped Essie get breakfast on the table. After the meal, she hurried to the neighbors’ barn phone, calling one of the several van drivers. This is the first day of a whole new life, she decided. She wanted to see what she was up against as far as styles and prices went so she’d know how much money she would need when she was ready to do her serious shopping. Unfortunately, she had very little money of her own, having given much of her earnings to her parents all those years and now helping Essie with expenses. Annie longed to tell Louisa what she planned, having not shared a peep with anyone, even Esther, for fear she might try to talk her out of it.
When the driver dropped Annie off at the outlet shops, she instructed him to pick her up in an hour, then headed toward one of the stores she’d gone into with Lou and Courtney. There, she spotted several pretty pairs of shoes and made a mental note, dodging the startled looks from one clerk. Then she made her way to the next shop, hoping to
247 see something like the skirt and blouse she’d borrowed from Louisa for her date with Ben to the Sight and Sound Theatre last month. Within minutes she saw three similar outfits, fixing her memory on the location of each item, thinking she might even be able to afford at least the blouse right away. When she asked to look at dresses, the clerk’s eyebrows shot straight up.
“We do not sell Amish apparel, miss,” she said.
“No, I’m not interested in Plain clothing. I’m lookin’ for something right perty, to tell you the truth. Something you would wear to have dinner with your best beau.”
The woman’s brown eyes brightened and she winked at Annie. “Well, I’m happily married, but I still remember those days. Come right this way.”
The clerk led her to a rack near the wall, displaying a whole lineup of dresses in every imaginable style and color.
“Are you looking for a particular size?” she asked.
“I have no idea.” Annie didn’t want to explain that she and her Mamm had always made her dresses and aprons.
“Is the dress for you or someone else?”
“For me.”
The woman scanned her quickly from head to toe and said she was most likely a petite two. Annie suddenly wished she had paid better attention to the size of Lou’s skirt and blouse.
There were so many pretty things to look at, and she decided to try on several. She narrowed her search down to two dresses and one lovely skirt and blouse outfit. When she asked if they could set the items of clothing aside, layaway was mentioned, but she hadn’t come prepared to pay a
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sizeable down payment. She left the store empty-handed, wishing she might take out some money from her savings account she and Mamm had set up together years ago, when first she’d started working at Cousin Julia’s. But how on earth was she going to convince her mother to go to the bank with her … especially if she revealed her plan to slowly buy an entire Englischer’s wardrobe?
All was not lost, though. She would find a way to make this very nice surprise happen for Ben, even if it meant borrowing money, although she hated to. Daed’s admonition to “owe no man anything” had been drilled into her. Still, seeing Ben’s expression when first he saw her in new, fancy clothes would be worth it all. I can scarcely wait!
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28
hen Lou’s letter arrived in the mail the next day, Annie discovered an extra thick envelope. Too excited to wait, she opened it and began reading even as she cut across the front lawn. Seeing a plastic card wrapped in paper, with an explanation for how to use it, she stood and leaned against the house. Lou wants me to call her next time I’m at Julia’s!
She also found it interesting that her friend was again seeing Michael, the man she had nearly married last year. Is she that lonely? Annie wondered, not quite sure what to think, especially having seen how happy Lou had been with Sam Glick. She felt disappointed, really. She wanted Sam to win Lou’s heart.
“With Sam going fancy, it could actually work,” she mused. And now that Ben was back, she, too, hoped to move further and further away from the Plain life. She thought again of her plan to purchase English clothing.
Won’t Lou be surprisedI.
Looking at the enclosed phone card, she could scarcely wait to get to Julia’s and have her help place the call to Castle Rock, Colorado.
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Later that same day, she did just that, with surprisingly little input from her cousin. Lou had given Annie her cell phone number, and the call went through ever so fast. uOh, Lou, it’s wonderful to hear your voice again!” “I’m right here in my art studio, between classes. How are you, Annie?”
“I’m fine … and you’ll never believe who’s come back to Paradise.” Annie was glad to have the portable phone in her hand and made a beeline toward the sunroom lest she be overheard by Julia or one of the children. She was thankful Ben had evidently left the house before she’d arrived.
“You’ll have to give me a hint,” Louisa replied. “Is this someone we both know?” “Ach, for sure.”
Annie felt her heart pound just thinking about what she wanted to say. “It’s Ben who’s here! Can you believe it?”
Louisa was silent for a time, then she said, “Actually, I can. He came back for you, didn’t he?”
“No.” She had to set her straight. “He came back because he found out he’s adopted. You’ll never believe this, but it turns out he’s Isaac, our kidnapped boy.” Annie let the story unfold the way it had from the very beginning.
When she’d finished explaining, Lou said, “This is a shocker … but a terrific one. You must feel stunned.”
“Well, I am and I’m not … if that makes any sense. I’m just ever so excited.”
“Now maybe you won’t have to jump through so many hoops to spend time with Ben.”
“To be honest, I don’t know how it will work for us to court, and he hasn’t said a word ‘bout it, either.” She sighed.
251 “My father is still not convinced he is Isaac. But Ben is. He’s remembering more and more about growin’ up here, and already word’s spreading amongst the People about who he is.”
Then Annie told Lou of her plan to buy some modern clothes. “Now all I need to do is find out where to sell my hair.”
Lou let out a gasp. “What? You’re kidding, I hope.”
The idea had popped into Annie’s head as she had contemplated the situation the night before. “No. Why? It’s not so uncommon. I’ve read that hair this long can go for a perty penny … so I need you to find out where I should go here in Lancaster to sell it.”
“Annie, this is silly. Does Ben know? I doubt he would want you to do that.”
“Lou, listen. This is my big surprise … so he’ll know how much I want to become fancy for him.”
“It’s hard to believe you really want to do this, Annie. Hopefully you won’t be sorry,” Lou said, as if Annie were making a horrid mistake.